The good cereal you only get while you’re on vacation

Teaching the little guy about financial stewardship….

Off and on for years now, we have tried to do the chore chart/reward deal with Trey. Now that he’s eight, it was past time we started teaching him about financial responsibility. We have never given him an allowance but people give him money and he collects change from bottle returns. There was not much structure when it came to how and when that money was spent.

For Trey’s 4th birthday, so very dear friends give him Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr. (These guys always come up with the neatest gifts. Thanks Daniel and Selah!) It was great. I thought it was such a neat idea and Trey enjoyed playing with the calculator and envelopes. 🙂 Sadly, we never really did anything with it and every time one of the pieces would pop up I would think, “I’m such a terrible parent! Why are we not using this?!”

Well, 4 years later, I finally did something about it. I ordered a new set from the Dave Ramsey Kids Store (we might have lost a few from the old set) and the day it arrived we got it started. We are all loving it. No more Target trips with, “Mommy, can I get this?” If he has the money in the right pouch, he can get it (with our approval on the item of course). If there’s something he wants that he doesn’t have enough money for he simply makes it his new “goal” and begins saving to get it. The first item he bought was a $20 Lego game and it was great to see the pride he had in working hard and accomplishing his goal.

I think one of my favorite things to come out of this so far is his desire to give. Through this Financial Peace Jr. kit and a book called Window on the World: When We Pray God Works that we use with our homeschooling, he has really become aware of how blessed we are. There are numerous Christian organizations through which you can give to people in need all over the world. World Vision is the one Trey chose to give through and he is saving to give a bunny and two chickens.

He has also started a Gift Catalog page where you can help him give to others in need. His goal is to raise $250. Trey says, “This is really important and some people really need this, so please help!”

So please, check out his page and see how you can give and help share the love of Jesus with others who so desperately need it!